Friday, April 25, 2014

Blog 19: Independent Component 2


LITERAL

I, Regina Ongowarsito, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.



My sources are my mentorship and the Coursera.org course I'm currently taking, "Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship".

Independent Component Log #2 is on the side of my blog.

To fulfill my Independent Component #2 requirements, I took an entrepreneur class online and did extra mentorship in addition to the 50 hours required for mentorship. I've also been taking music classes in a music store, where I was able to experience the store from the customers' point of view.

INTERPRETIVE 


Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  


I created blog posts chronicling my experience in the Coursera class. Each post contains screenshots of the videos I have to watch and the quizzes I took. Here are links leading to them:

The following are PDFs my teacher shared with me in some of our lessons. They are for me to practice bass.

I keep notes on my mentorship experiences. It used to be that I'd write them on an actual notebook, then I'd scan them up, but I decided to change it some time ago to this document. It felt easier to me.

APPLIED

How did the component help you answer your EQ? Please include specific examples to illustrate how it helped

The entrepreneur class taught me to see businesses in general from the eyes of an entrepreneur. What I learned from this class expanded upon the knowledge that I gained from my research about businesses and furthered it.

From the class, I learned various business topics like segmenting markets, the entrepreneurial mindset and behavior, the process involved in the design of a product, and the importance and complexity behind addressing consumers' needs when developing a venture. These are all general entrepreneurial lessons that are more-oriented to company developments, but I find it very easy to apply them into a small business context. For example, Professor Green of the class talked about using your knowledge of consumers' needs to your advantage. It made me think about specialty music shops, and how their success lies on addressing a specific consumer need that not many else provide.

As for my mentorship in The Music Store, it was an opportunity for me to learn first hand of what goes into the operations of a music store. Over my long tenure there, I gradually got the chance to address customers myself, to help with closing every night, and to help with sales of items.

From my music lessons in the store, I became aware of what customers want from a music store, as I was able to receive an experience to be a customer myself. It helped shape the ideas I had of the best way to profit from a music store, but in a way that will also benefit the customers as well.

Independent Component: Week 3 of "Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship" course in Coursera

(It's really, really, really a good thing I watched the videos in advance. Phew.)




Saturday, March 29, 2014

Independent Component: Week 1 of "Developing Innovative Ideas for New Companies: The First Step in Entrepreneurship" course in Coursera

I don't know what I was thinking, but I really put the course off until the weekend. As a result, whatever was remaining of this particular Saturday (which is usually overtaken by my mentorship) is also dedicated to Senior Project. Blargh.

I watched all the videos of the course and viewed some of the slides for further references. Took the quiz and got a 8.2 first time round. Being the perfectionist I am, tried it again until I got a 10.

Total time: 3 hours and 43 minutes







Thursday, March 27, 2014

Blog 18: Third Answer

  • EQ
What is the best way to profit as an independent music store?
  • Answer #3
One way some independent music store can profit is to be specialized and unique.
  • 3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example)
Specialized stores have a special appeal to them that would attract customers to them instead of large chain stores. For example, Matt's Boutique, a store that was talked about in one of my resources listed below, began to get more sales when they started to focus on providing high-end boutique guitars.
Specialized stores can better provide specific products then the general music store.  A store specialized in drums most likely have more drum products than the general music store.
Specialized and unique stores can benefit by being individualistic. A store with its own unique identity can be charming, as Kinney from my resource below said.
  • The research source (s) to support your details and answer
Kinney, Shane. "Tips for Interior Retail Display." Musical Merchandise Review Jan. 2014: n. pag. Print.
Kailus, Katie. "Boutique Expert." Music Inc Mar.-Apr. 2014: 34-38. Print.
  • Concluding Sentence
A store with a unique identity, or in addition to a specialization, can have a charm that attract customers and increase sales, therefore profit.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Blog 17: Fourth Interview Questions


  1. What should a music store aim to do?
  2. What is the most important in running an independent music store?
  3. What kind of employees do we need to successfully run a music store? 
  4. Where can we find such employees?
  5. How can we best work with our employees?
  6. What kind of customers should we expect in an independent music store?
  7. Should there be a certain demographic to aim for when running a music store?
  8. How can we appeal to customers?
  9. How can we best work with our customers?
  10. Should we work with our community?
  11. How do we work with our community? / What are the ways we can work with our community?
  12. How do we best advertise?
  13. How do we compete against large chain music stores?
  14. Is our only option to find a special niche? Could an independent store that only sells various instruments with no focus on certain types of instruments survive?
  15. Is it important to 'keep up with the times' as a music store? Or is a music store a type of business with  basic, ageless information?
  16. How do we 'keep up with the times' as an independent music store?
  17. How important is it to be a musician ourselves when owning and running a music store?
  18. How important are music lessons to the livelihood of an independent music store?
  19. What kind of people should we network with?
  20. What is the one thing that a music store should absolutely never do?